Over the past four months spent discovering myself and my passions – I’ve reunited with my spirit. Understanding that the silos I built up working– and only working for the sake of work have limited me.
In my time off (if you have been reading my blog you know what I mean) I have re-discovered my true passions and the passions of others, and how they relate to me. I have realized and met many wonderful people who I would never have met otherwise – because I would have been busy with work! Can we slow things down a bit? Expand our universe somehow? Maybe we miss out on “true-living” by not meeting these folks?
I was reminded of the importance of this recently by a now good friend Stan Hattaway.
Do we live, work, and breathe within our own silos?
The events recently in Iran re-awakened, for me, the dangers of being siloed. They, of course, are forcibly siloed. As Americans, we generally are not—except by our own choice. Or, maybe as long as we allow others to make that decision for us!
I’ve at times allowed myself to be voluntarily siloed, they by comparison have no choice in the matter. Why do we (who have many freedoms) allow ourselves to sometimes be led (separated) like this? Your experiences?
I was reminded once again about imposed limits on communications and dialogue via government dictates with what has been going on in Iran and fair elections. What an ordeal – developing all the more via outside methods like Twitter.
I was following Titter and Tweeting during all of this and monitoring developments, and then came the recent anniversary of the Tiananmen Square uprising this past month. Was following the memorial events via Twitter – and was reunited with one of the student activists I had met years ago (1989) at the King Center while I 
was training college students in the philosophy of nonviolent social change. He was a guest speaker and shared his experiences from that violent period of time in China and offered practical advice to our students – and quite frankly myself.
He was delighted I remembered him and I now follow him on Twitter – –Shen Tong — we will sharing our experiences since them – and I’m certain his are far more ground breaking than my meager attempts.
I personally had my first substantive breaking through the silo moment when I was a young man just out of college. I answered a call for volunteers to learn and educate young people in Dr. King’s nonviolent philosophy promoting social change while in Atlanta. The program was led by none other than Coretta Scott King , Christine King Farris (Martin Luther King’s sister) and their daughters – who essentially lived history with me and informed me that what I had learned in history books and saw on TV throughout my formative years was essentially wrong. Yes, wrong. Growing up in a totally white (and non-minority) communities in small town Ohio — I had no idea. I had been siloed! My life was changed forever. I would later work for Mrs. King -
I was ALREADY being siloed at that young age — how was I to know? My point is, don’t accept out of hand things you are told or learned. Open your mind, your attitude and your life — you just might experience things going on around you that you had no idea were taking place.
I’m grateful for the friends and associates I have today because I met them OUTSIDE MY SILO! Defying Gravity? I think so.
Your experiences venturing outside the silo? Interesting. . . .
WOW. A very powerful and insightful commentary. I think is important to stay connected. You are correct, we all become caught up in our “work” lives and do not look much beyond that. It is though I have blinders on. Keep writing the blog. I really believe you have found your voice. You are still Defying Gravity.
By: Stan Hattaway on August 5, 2009
at 6:48 pm